Crawling Back to Apple

[Elvis Starburst]

Apple is an interesting mistress. Though simple and a bit more expensive, you know what you're gonna get, with little BS in-between. Then there's MP3. Cheaper, more complicated, and filled with options. But, is that always the better choice?

MP3 players are sort of old news these days, even with new models being made. I myself dropped everything Apple after my Classic crashed on me and went to the Sansa Clip Zip (SD card slot, woo!). Little did I know that I'd spend an entire day trying to use MP3 Tag to fix all of the tags of ever freaking song I had to ensure this thing's refresh time would stay below 30 minutes. After 2 years, 2 Zips and 2 SD cards (Yeah, it burned through 2 of them somehow), I got a new type of MP3 player with internal memory.

Then, all of the data I changed the tags with (Album, Artist, Title, etc) were in the wrong order. Know what that means? Having to go back and fix over 2000 songs worth of music to fix it. I threw up my hands, said "No!" and got an iPod Nano instead. Ugh...

So, that's just a story of my MP3 experience I wanted to tell. I don't like Apple, but dammit, they really made the process nice and simple for sorting music and such.

Have you Escapists ever had that sort of experience? Trying to pry yourselves out of the norm, only to try new things and then eventually come back to the old method, due to large time savings or just simple ease of use? Let's hear it!

 

[Vault101]

but Ipods are so awfully overpriced....

how common are non apple mp3 players I wonder? that particular product has almost been taken over by smart phones...

 

[dyre]

iPods are alright. Not a fan on how they pretty much require iTunes, which as far as I'm concerned is the music version of GFWL in terms of generally pissing me off, but they decent enough.

I got mine about seven or eight years ago (it's the slightly smaller model they released shortly after introducing the original ones), and I don't have any serious complaints about it.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

but Ipods are so awfully overpriced....

how common are non apple mp3 players I wonder? that particular product has almost been taken over by smart phones...

Oddly enough, the one I got was only $40 more than the second MP3 player attempt I made for the same storage, but it had less features and it was a scratch magnet. Also, to answer your question, they're still out there at stores like Best Buy, but there aren't many models around. And most of them are really junk brands

EDIT: Let's not forget the 2 MP3 players I got costed about $70 each, plus 2 $30 32GB SD cards, and none of them lasted more than 12 months each, so... Hard to tell what is more worth it

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

I've actually had the opposite experience recently. I started using Linux several months ago and while it was a difficult switch (can't just download and double click on installers), now I find myself using Windows and getting irritated when it doesn't have features I'm used to. Though now I can appreciate a few things Windows does like its incredibly long term support

but Ipods are so awfully overpriced....

how common are non apple mp3 players I wonder? that particular product has almost been taken over by smart phones...

They're fucking way over priced. I like listening to music, and I like using my phone. Because reasons I find these things annoying to do at the same time so I looked at mp3 players on amazon thinking I could basically get a flashdrive with buttons and a headphone jack. Nope. Some are like $70 for just 32gb of storage. Screw that. I got an old Nexus S and started using that instead, but now my music library is too big since Nexus's don't have SD card slots. Now I just use my terabyte netbook and headphones with a long cord

EDIT: Let's not forget the 2 MP3 players I got costed about $70 each, plus 2 $30 32GB SD cards, and none of them lasted more than 12 months each, so... Hard to tell what is more worth it

What brand did you buy and where they full sized or micro? And even a 32bg micro sd is $20 on amazon. Gotta remember that Best Buy will price match anything. I've had about 6 micro SD and 3 full sized cards over the years and none of them have failed on me. All those were San Disk and one PNY. If I were in the market for an mp3 player now (which I'm still thinking about) I'd buy a cheap Android phone with a 4" screen like the Galaxy mini or Galaxy Ace for less than $200 and just put a micro SD card in it.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

I've actually had the opposite experience recently. I started using Linux several months ago and while it was a difficult switch (can't just download and double click on installers), now I find myself using Windows and getting irritated when it doesn't have features I'm used to. Though now I can appreciate a few things Windows does like its incredibly long term support

but Ipods are so awfully overpriced....

how common are non apple mp3 players I wonder? that particular product has almost been taken over by smart phones...

They're fucking way over priced. I like listening to music, and I like using my phone. Because reasons I find these things annoying to do at the same time so I looked at mp3 players on amazon thinking I could basically get a flashdrive with buttons and a headphone jack. Nope. Some are like $70 for just 32gb of storage. Screw that. I got an old Nexus S and started using that instead, but now my music library is too big since Nexus's don't have SD card slots. Now I just use my terabyte netbook and headphones with a long cord

EDIT: Let's not forget the 2 MP3 players I got costed about $70 each, plus 2 $30 32GB SD cards, and none of them lasted more than 12 months each, so... Hard to tell what is more worth it

What brand did you buy and where they full sized or micro? And even a 32bg micro sd is $20 on amazon. Gotta remember that Best Buy will price match anything. I've had about 6 micro SD and 3 full sized cards over the years and none of them have failed on me. All those were San Disk and one PNY. If I were in the market for an mp3 player now (which I'm still thinking about) I'd buy a cheap Android phone with a 4" screen like the Galaxy mini or Galaxy Ace for less than $200 and just put a micro SD card in it.

Apple wishes I'd switch to their computers. After using it for a bit with a really under powered computer? Fucking PLEASE XD Also, yes, they are overpriced. Sadly, my phone has a bit too much stuff taken up to fill with all my music. WAY too little room. The iPod barely helps, but I just prioritize and deal.

Second, the SD cards are Kingston brand, and were Micro SD's as well. Good quality stuff meant to last years. The problem with my first 2 MP3 players, the Sansa Clip Zip, is that it seemed to burn through my SD cards. Constant wear from reading loads of music at least 6 hours a day seemed to trash them fast. Eventually, the players themselves just stopped working. Their SD card slots simply gave out. $70 for 8GB internal and 32GB SD card slot MP3 player? Basically, $90-100 a player. Ugh, no (Meaning I spent $200 on these things in 2 years). It worked very well, but, burning through 2 of them is enough for me to switch.

As much as I dislike Apple, at least I don't have to re-tag most of my music just to keep things organized. Transfer times are also a lot faster on my iPod. Though... I do miss the whole "Not an Apple product" thing, buuuuuuut... If I didn't wanna wait a long ass time for shipping, I would have found a good MP3 player that is 32GB storage capable (Preferably internal). Sadly, I had nothing of good quality near me at the time, so... meh, I simply settled. Side note though, if there is a good 32GB internal MP3 player of a quality brand, I'd love to see it

 

[Brennan]

I have an iPod touch G1 that was given to me by a family member when they upgraded. I'd prefer consolidating those functions with my phone by buying smartphone, but I can't afford that right now. Apply is really big into forced obsolescence via app compatibility, but with a good jailbreak, "obsolete" iDevices actually have surprisingly long legs. A used older model iPod (provided you can find a non-stolen one) is probably what I'd recommend over anything new to someone looking for a good cheap MP3 player.

 

[mirage202]

Can get refurb older iPods pretty cheap now at places like GameStop, certainly cheaper than newer MP3's. I used to love my old mini disk player and after that died I never bothered with anything else. Apple would be the way I'd go if I did though, simply because it seems that every stereo these days has an iPod dock.

 

[FPLOON]

I originally had one of those SanDisk MP3 players, myself... I honestly never gave two shits on the sorting of my music overall until my friend handed me his old Ipod Nano, which came pre-loaded with about 80+ songs that were left over, not including the pre-existing songs (mainly Gorillaz songs) that I gave to him via CDs... Shorty after, the MP3 player died as well as it's buttons breaking off so all I had left was the used Ipod given to me (which I started using to hold all of my nerdcore, anime, and Adult Swim music that I was too lazy to burn onto a blank CD to play on my still-working portable CD player) at the time...

Later, once GameStop started reselling the version of the Ipod Nano that you could record video on, I ended up shelling money for one, which I now use to hold all of my pony music... Sure, it sometimes crashes and resets if I press the wheel too many times in one go, but whatever... The other Ipod's top part came off, so I can't manually lock it, as well as it's random restarts if I press the wheel in a certain way...

Yeah... I kinda miss my old MP3 player... on top of the fact that I refuse to update my Itunes library to the latest version... *laughs* FUCK OFF, APPLE!! Like hell I'm I going to update to a version that's more "in tune" with those Iphones and Ipod None-Phones...

 

[Mr Fixit]

I absolutely refuse to buy anything Apple, simply because of that smug & pretentious attitude of "this is the best thing ever, & you will buy it & love it, because we say so & it's what all the cool kids do" it's overpriced restrictive crap.

My cheap ass LG Android phone does everything an iPhone does & it even does things CHEAPER & BETTER!

Ok mildly off-topic rant out of the way... The only thing that I've done even remotely like that is I finally caved & started up a Facebook account. I swore I'd never do it, but when I found that was the only way to talk to some of my family & friends I finally did it. I still feel dirty about it to this day.

 

[x EvilErmine x]

Apple is an interesting mistress. Though simple and a bit more expensive, you know what you're gonna get, with little BS in-between. Then there's MP3. Cheaper, more complicated, and filled with options. But, is that always the better choice?

MP3 players are sort of old news these days, even with new models being made. I myself dropped everything Apple after my Classic crashed on me and went to the Sansa Clip Zip (SD card slot, woo!). Little did I know that I'd spend an entire day trying to use MP3 Tag to fix all of the tags of ever freaking song I had to ensure this thing's refresh time would stay below 30 minutes. After 2 years, 2 Zips and 2 SD cards (Yeah, it burned through 2 of them somehow), I got a new type of MP3 player with internal memory.

Then, all of the data I changed the tags with (Album, Artist, Title, etc) were in the wrong order. Know what that means? Having to go back and fix over 2000 songs worth of music to fix it. I threw up my hands, said "No!" and got an iPod Nano instead. Ugh...

So, that's just a story of my MP3 experience I wanted to tell. I don't like Apple, but dammit, they really made the process nice and simple for sorting music and such.

Have you Escapists ever had that sort of experience? Trying to pry yourselves out of the norm, only to try new things and then eventually come back to the old method, due to large time savings or just simple ease of use? Let's hear it!

Talking about mp3 tags...i-tunes is fucking unbelievable. Once they have you they never want to let you go and will make it difficult as balls to get your music back out.

My generic mp3 player died a while back and I got an i-pod as a replacement, transfer everything to i-tunes and away I went. A few years later the i-pod battery dies and I need to get my music out of i-tunes[footnote]All mp3's non of this AAC bullshit, all ripped from CD's too[/footnote] i-tunes says nope! you can't have it...it's mine now! Balls to that I say so I dive into the file system to find the songs and extract them manually. So after hunting around [footnote]To get the songs off the i-pod you need to plug it in by USB, enable viewing hidden folders in windows, navigate to the i-pod and look for a hidden file called i-pod control[/footnote] I find them but the i-pod resents this and just to spite you it'll hash the mp3 tags and encode them into something only i-tunes recognizes so you then have to go edit all the tags back to normal if you want to use them in anything other than i-tunes and know what you are about to play.

Thanks a bunch apple :/

 

[Flutterguy]

Bought an iTouch when they came out since I had disposable income and touch screen technology was impressive at the time.

Found out apple forces iTunes on people and never bought from them again. With the rise of smartphones I don't imagine I'll be buying an MP3 player again. The lack of gaming compatibility and high pricetag I can't imagine i would ever buy a mac, I have a friend who does editing for a living who after a few years of mac use swapped to PC and just learned adobe instead.

Not to mention the suicide rate of apple employees.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

My generic mp3 player died a while back and I got an i-pod as a replacement, transfer everything to i-tunes and away I went. A few years later the i-pod battery dies and I need to get my music out of i-tunes[footnote]All mp3's non of this AAC bullshit, all ripped from CD's too[/footnote] i-tunes says nope! you can't have it...it's mine now! Balls to that I say so I dive into the file system to find the songs and extract them manually. So after hunting around [footnote]To get the songs off the i-pod you need to plug it in by USB, enable viewing hidden folders in windows, navigate to the i-pod and look for a hidden file called i-pod control[/footnote] I find them but the i-pod resents this and just to spite you it'll hash the mp3 tags and encode them into something only i-tunes recognizes so you then have to go edit all the tags back to normal if you want to use them in anything other than i-tunes and know what you are about to play.

Oh god, don't get me started with the AAC bullshit. That is a lousy tactic. Also, if you've had so much trouble, do what I did. I transfer all of my music to my new computer, and also transferred the iTunes Library file that backs up what songs are on it (In the form of a list and all of the tags involved for every song). I put all of the music back in its original spot once iTunes was installed, double clicked the back up file, and it all appeared on my library again.

I absolutely refuse to buy anything Apple, simply because of that smug & pretentious attitude of "this is the best thing ever, & you will buy it & love it, because we say so & it's what all the cool kids do" it's overpriced restrictive crap.

My cheap ass LG Android phone does everything an iPhone does & it even does things CHEAPER & BETTER!

I think everything does what an Apple product does, and better (Unless you get a really shit MP3 player, or tough experience with them like I did). Ugh, why can't there just be another new best thing? Like, an MP3 player that can rival the iPod and have SD storage that doesn't burn through cards, have good response time with its OS, great audio quality, and overall just NOT APPLE. That'd be nice. But, they have the damn market cornered...

 

[lacktheknack]

Android phone + MusicBee = better than Apple.

I've never had tagging issues, but that's because I'm anal-retentive about MP3 tagging and play the long game when tagging them.

 

[Foolery]

I've got an MP3 Sony Walkman. I swear that thing is indestructible. Great battery life too. I gave up on Ipods after my second one died. Overpriced junk.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

Apple wishes I'd switch to their computers. After using it for a bit with a really under powered computer? Fucking PLEASE XD Also, yes, they are overpriced. Sadly, my phone has a bit too much stuff taken up to fill with all my music. WAY too little room. The iPod barely helps, but I just prioritize and deal.

People always talk about how great Apple computers are. I will admit, I know a few people who have been using the same Mac Book for more than 6 years, but current Apple computers are fast because they have expensive shit in them. But you get an ultrabook the same parts for hundreds of dollars less. And the same thing happened with my phone. I love my HTC One, but it was a mistake to get a phone without an SD card slot. I thought I could manage with 32GB like I did with my old phone but once I put games and other crap on it, my music was out of the question. Instead, I realized only listen to music for long periods of time when I'm home or have my netbook with me so I just use that. Banshee music player is one of Linux programs I wish Windows had. I can quickly sort my music, tag it in bulk (but I can't figure out how to make album art the thumbnails), and apply ratings to it. Then I can quickly find and select all my 5 star songs and easily drag and drop files out of the player into a folder on my phone so I can have a small playlist of good music

Second, the SD cards are Kingston brand, and were Micro SD's as well. Good quality stuff meant to last years. The problem with my first 2 MP3 players, the Sansa Clip Zip, is that it seemed to burn through my SD cards. Constant wear from reading loads of music at least 6 hours a day seemed to trash them fast. Eventually, the players themselves just stopped working. Their SD card slots simply gave out. $70 for 8GB internal and 32GB SD card slot MP3 player? Basically, $90-100 a player. Ugh, no (Meaning I spent $200 on these things in 2 years). It worked very well, but, burning through 2 of them is enough for me to switch.

Must have been the players. I put a 64GB micro SD into my old HTC Sensation and I occasionally use to torrent things (Linux distros) with very few seeders so I don't have to leave one of my computers on 24/7. Given that I've written data to it for weeks at a time, those MP3 players must have been a special kind of garbage

As much as I dislike Apple, at least I don't have to re-tag most of my music just to keep things organized. Transfer times are also a lot faster on my iPod. Though... I do miss the whole "Not an Apple product" thing, buuuuuuut... If I didn't wanna wait a long ass time for shipping, I would have found a good MP3 player that is 32GB storage capable (Preferably internal). Sadly, I had nothing of good quality near me at the time, so... meh, I simply settled. Side note though, if there is a good 32GB internal MP3 player of a quality brand, I'd love to see it

The mp3 players that I considered were from Sony. I believe they were simple stick shaped and came in storage increments up 32GB. But being Sony, they too overpriced. 32GB of flash memory doesn't cost more than $15. And Sony still makes their Walkman line, and I believe some run on Android

I think everything does what an Apple product does, and better (Unless you get a really shit MP3 player, or tough experience with them like I did). Ugh, why can't there just be another new best thing? Like, an MP3 player that can rival the iPod and have SD storage that doesn't burn through cards, have good response time with its OS, great audio quality, and overall just NOT APPLE. That'd be nice. But, they have the damn market cornered...

Uh, a cheap Android phone. Once you've got a mobile with a duel core and 1GB of ram, Jellbean runs as smooth as butter. They cost about the same as an iPod. I guess you'd be hard pressed to find one with more than 16GB internal memory though

I absolutely refuse to buy anything Apple, simply because of that smug & pretentious attitude of "this is the best thing ever, & you will buy it & love it, because we say so & it's what all the cool kids do" it's overpriced restrictive crap.

My cheap ass LG Android phone does everything an iPhone does & it even does things CHEAPER & BETTER!

Fuck Apple and their phones. My sister wants to get an iPhone 5c. They charge the same amount of money for a duel core, lower res, 16GB phone as I paid for my quad core, 1080p, 32GB HTC One

 

[Elvis Starburst]

I love my HTC One, but it was a mistake to get a phone without an SD card slot. I thought I could manage with 32GB like I did with my old phone but once I put games and other crap on it, my music was out of the question. Instead, I realized only listen to music for long periods of time when I'm home or have my netbook with me so I just use that. Banshee music player is one of Linux programs I wish Windows had. I can quickly sort my music, tag it in bulk (but I can't figure out how to make album art the thumbnails), and apply ratings to it. Then I can quickly find and select all my 5 star songs and easily drag and drop files out of the player into a folder on my phone so I can have a small playlist of good music

Must have been the players. I put a 64GB micro SD into my old HTC Sensation and I occasionally use to torrent things (Linux distros) with very few seeders so I don't have to leave one of my computers on 24/7. Given that I've written data to it for weeks at a time, those MP3 players must have been a special kind of garbage

The mp3 players that I considered were from Sony. I believe they were simple stick shaped and came in storage increments up 32GB. But being Sony, they too overpriced. 32GB of flash memory doesn't cost more than $15. And Sony still makes their Walkman line, and I believe some run on Android

Huh, I have the One too, so you know why I can't have all of my music on there. Though, it's not like I mind much. I prefer having a dedicated music player. Also, damn, dunno where you've been finding those... Could have used one myself if such were the case. Lastly, they weren't bad per se, I guess, but they must have been a bit on the low quality side to have 20-30 minute refresh times and to actually burn their SD card reading slots entirely out of order

 

[sXeth]

I'd had an LG, and a Samsung mp3 player that all didn't make it a year. Also couldn't get tags fixed on them for all the trying in the world, and nothing seemed to be able to sync the LG ones properly without leaving duped songs (Short of reformatting the thing before every reload).

Comparatively, my 80gb classic iPod is still 7 years and working fine, as the 3 yearish 160 I got after that. iTunes isn't my first choice, and hogs resources and all, but seems to be the only thing that can sync them without leaving duplicates. Still, dropping the cash on those beats out the multi-cash drops I put into my prior efforts, so eh, whatever.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

Huh, I have the One too, so you know why I can't have all of my music on there. Though, it's not like I mind much. I prefer having a dedicated music player. Also, damn, dunno where you've been finding those... Could have used one myself if such were the case. Lastly, they weren't bad per se, I guess, but they must have been a bit on the low quality side to have 20-30 minute refresh times and to actually burn their SD card reading slots entirely out of order

Damn your're fast. You replied in the time I edited my post. And ha! That 32GB is so misleading. You're left with like 25GB on the phone and that missing 5 or so gigs is significant. This new HTC One [http://www.cnet.com/news/sprint-htc-one-m8-harman-kardon/] might be right up your alley. Its got the sd card, its designed for high quality music, and its fucking bad ass gold and black metal. I seriously hope they still have this when I switch to Sprint next winter. I used a half solution to have a "dedicated" mp3 player by using blue-tooth headphones with my One, but I ran out of space and it just wasn't the same as its own device. Also, I believe I searched only Sony's mp3 players on Amazon to find the ones I was talking about

 

[Elvis Starburst]

Huh, I have the One too, so you know why I can't have all of my music on there. Though, it's not like I mind much. I prefer having a dedicated music player. Also, damn, dunno where you've been finding those... Could have used one myself if such were the case. Lastly, they weren't bad per se, I guess, but they must have been a bit on the low quality side to have 20-30 minute refresh times and to actually burn their SD card reading slots entirely out of order

Damn your're fast. You replied in the time I edited my post. And ha! That 32GB is so misleading. You're left with like 25GB on the phone and that missing 5 or so gigs is significant. This new HTC One [http://www.cnet.com/news/sprint-htc-one-m8-harman-kardon/] might be right up your alley. Its got the sd card, its designed for high quality music, and its fucking bad ass gold and black metal. I seriously hope they still have this when I switch to Sprint next winter. I used a half solution to have a "dedicated" mp3 player by using blue-tooth headphones with my One, but I ran out of space and it just wasn't the same as its own device. Also, I believe I searched only Sony's mp3 players on Amazon to find the ones I was talking about

I'm fast cause I don't have much to do after work, so I keep coming back here XD Also, I don't mind not having the space the One has, and I prefer its look to the M8. Besides, I can't really just go and get it without cancelling my plan or something, which is a lot of money I don't wanna spend. But, thanks for the tip~

Edit: JEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESUS those are expensive o.o Yeah, I'll be fine with what I've got, haha